We are parents of three children. Our children have finished home education and have pursued widely different educational choices and careers: attending university and working as a therapist at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, attending trade school to become a red seal welder, and being self-taught and becoming the manager of a local retail store.
We have enjoyed the freedom that home education provided our multi-generational family (an infirm grandparent lived with us and required significant attention, with interruptions to planned schedules a common daily occurrence). This freedom included the ability to uncouple our school year from the establishment’s timelines and allowed us to schedule activities and trips at times of the year when facilities were less busy. Even without formal studies, the amount of learning our children did during these trips was amazing. In addition, during this period of home education, we actively participated in the home education community in the Edmonton area.
Our home education adventure started before the home education regulations existed. Initially, we worked with our local district and had a great relationship with the assigned staff (both in the local school and the district office). However, the growth of home education resulted in staffing changes in our local district and a movement of the relationship to more of a control mindset. We started looking for options around the time WISDOM Home Schooling was being founded. Based on the recommendations of a couple of personal friends, we notified with WISDOM and have been involved with WISDOM since its beginnings. This involvement is multi-faceted, including prayer for the administration and staff of WISDOM, assisting with the establishment and chairing of the Parent Advisory Council, and keeping parents informed of when they need to become involved with government representatives and department bureaucrats.